Mobile E-commerce Wiki
Welcome to the Mobile E-commerce Wiki Mobile Commerce known as next-generation e-commerce,m-commerce enables users to access the Internet without needing to find a place to plug in. Mobile Commerce, also known as M-Commerce or mCommerce, is the ability to conduct commerce using a mobile device, such as a mobile phone, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a smartphone, or other emerging mobile equipment such as dashtop mobile devices. Mobile Commerce has been defined as follows: "Mobile Commerce is any transaction, involving the transfer of ownership or rights to use goods and services, which is initiated and/or completed by using mobile access to computer-mediated networks with the help of an electronic device. According to comScore, up to November 2011 there were 38 percent of smartphone owners have used their phone to make a purchase at least once." Developments in mobile handset technology and use of mobile devices by consumers have made the mobile commerce market more consumer-oriented, more global in scope and more device-dependent. As a result, consumers can reap the benefits of their handsets or other mobile devices at any time, anywhere. Mobile commerce (m-commerce) can be understood as a business model that allows a consumer to complete all steps of a commercial transaction using a mobile phone or personal digital assistant (PDA) rather than by going to a "bricks and mortar" store or making voice calls. Transactions involving the purchase of physical goods, such as books, that are delivered off line are still considered mobile commerce. 'History' The Global Mobile Commerce Forum, which came to include over 100 organisations, had its fully minuted launch in London on 10 November 1997. It was founded by Logica and Cellnet. The meeting was opened by Dr Mike Short, former chairman of the GSM Association, with forecasts from Kevin Duffey (Group Telecoms Director of Logica) and Tom Alexander (later CEO of Virgin Mobile and then of Orange). Mobile commerce was born in 1997 when the first two mobile-phone enabled Coca Cola vending machines were installed in the Helsinki area in Finland. The machines accepted payment via SMS text messages. The first mobile phone-based banking service was launched in 1997 by Merita Bank of Finland, also using SMS. In 1998, the first sales of digital content as downloads to mobile phones were made possible when the first commercial downloadable ringtones were launched in Finland by Radiolinja. Two major national commercial platforms for mobile commerce were launched in 1999: Smart Money in the Philippines, and NTT DoCoMo's i-Mode Internet service in Japan. i-Mode offered a revolutionary revenue-sharing plan where NTT DoCoMo kept 9 percent of the fee users paid for content, and returned 91 percent to the content owner.Mobile-commerce-related services spread rapidly in early 2000. Norway launched mobile parking payments. Austria offered train ticketing via mobile device. Japan offered mobile purchases of airline tickets. In April 2002, building on the work of the Global Mobile Commerce Forum (GMCF), the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) appointed Joachim Hoffmann of Motorola to develop official standards for mobile commerce. In appointing Mr Hoffman, ETSI quoted industry analysts as predicting "that m-commerce is poised for such an exponential growth over the next few years that could reach US$200 billion by 2004". The first book to cover mobile commerce was Tomi Ahonen's M-profits in 2002. The first university short course to discuss mobile commerce was held at the University of Oxford in 2003, with Tomi Ahonen and Steve Jones lecturing. As of 2008, UCL Computer Science and Peter J. Bentley demonstrated the potential for medical applications on mobile devices. PDAs and cellular phones have become so popular that many businesses are beginning to use mobile commerce as a more efficient way to communicate with their customers.In order to exploit the potential mobile commerce market, mobile phone manufacturers such as Nokia, Ericsson, Motorola, and Qualcomm are working with carriers such as AT&T Wireless and Sprint to develop WAP-enabled smartphones. Smartphones offer fax, e-mail, and phone capabilities. "Profitability for device vendors and carriers hinges on high-end mobile devices and the accompanying killer applications," said Burchett. Perennial early adopters, such as the youth market, which are the least price sensitive, as well as more open to premium mobile content and applications, must also be a key target for device vendors.Since the launch of the iPhone, mobile commerce has moved away from SMS systems and into actual applications. SMS has significant security vulnerabilities and congestion problems, even though it is widely available and accessible. In addition, improvements in the capabilities of modern mobile devices make it prudent to place more of the resource burden on the mobile device. More recently, brick and mortar business owners, and big-box retailers in particular, have made an effort to take advantage of mobile commerce by utilizing a number of mobile capabilities such as location based services, barcode scanning, and push notifications to improve the customer experience of shopping in physical stores. By creating what is referred to as a 'bricks & clicks' environment, physical retailers can allow customers to access the common benefits of shopping online (such as product reviews, information, and coupons) while still shopping in the physical store. This is seen as a bridge between the gap created by e-commerce and in-store shopping, and is being utilized by physical retailers as a way to compete with the lower prices typically seen through online retailers. Product and Services 'Mobile ticketing'Tickets can be sent to mobile phones using a variety of technologies. Users are then able to use their tickets immediately, by presenting their phones at the venue.Tickets can be booked and cancelled on the mobile device with the help of simple application downloads, or by accessing the WAP portals of various travel agents or direct service providers. 'Mobile vouchers, coupons and loyalty cards'Mobile ticketing technology can also be used for the distribution of vouchers, coupons, and loyalty cards. These items are represented by a virtual token that is sent to the mobile phone. A customer presenting a mobile phone with one of these tokens at the point of sale receives the same benefits as if they had the traditional token. Stores may send coupons to customers using location-based services to determine when the customer is nearby. 'Content purchase and delivery'Currently, mobile content purchase and delivery mainly consists of the sale of ring-tones, wallpapers, and games for mobile phones. The convergence of mobile phones, portable audio players, and video players into a single device is increasing the purchase and delivery of full-length music tracks and video. The download speeds available with 4G networks make it possible to buy a movie on a mobile device in a couple of seconds. 'Mobile banking'Banks and other financial institutions use mobile commerce to allow their customers to access account information and make transactions, such as purchasing stocks, remitting money. This service is often referred to as Mobile Banking, or M-Banking. 'Mobile Browsing'Using a mobile browser—a World Wide Web browser on a mobile device—customers can shop online without having to be at their personal computer. 'Mobile Purchase'Catalog merchants can accept orders from customers electronically, via the customer's mobile device. In some cases, the merchant may even deliver the catalog electronically, rather than mailing a paper catalog to the customer. Some merchants provide mobile websites that are customized for the smaller screen and limited user interface of a mobile device. Mobile Commerce Security The public has grown to trust online banking, as evidenced by the huge upsurge of users accessing their accounts over the Web and paying bills and credit cards online. Based on a survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, more than 50 million adults in the United States now bank online, which is a 47 percent increase from just two years ago and a significant jump from the 14 million people who took advantage of these services in 2002. Rather than resting on that success, financial institutions and mobile operators are adding mCommerce options to deliver an even higher level of convenience for their customers. Checking account balance, transferring funds and approving payments can be completed using a mobile phone with a simple text message, which gives customers the flexibility to manage their finances whenever and wherever they want. For many customers, mobile payment options are a necessity, and financial institutions that offer mobile services are gaining a competitive advantage. Security is the single most important service that banks and mobile commerce providers offer their customers. the tried-and-true best practices that secure a local area network and wide area network were first adapted to Web-based technology for online banking, and now to mobile technology for mobile transactions. Sybase 365 has adapted these tested and proven security techniques for new mobile business models. The mobile payment platform safeguards all levels of the transaction and adheres to proven security best practices. This modular, standards-based solution supports multiple mobile channels, including SMS, mobile browser, downloadable client and Unstructured Supplementary Service Data ( USSD ), and it works on all mobiles phones, networks and with all languages and currencies. Financial organizations and mobile operators can reach their mobile customers - without the need to connect to individual operators or carriers - through the built-in access to the Sybase 365 global mobile messaging infrastructure. In mobile banking, most security questions center around how the transaction between payer and payee is protected. The mCommerce 365 platform secures multiple types of communication channel, including : *Security for SMS *Security for USSD *Security for transactions over Web Browser *Downloadable client-based application Another security level starts at the data center, the physical location that maintains the Sybase 365 network infrastructure. The combination of dedicated security personal, purpose-built security equipment and business processes protects these facilities from external and internal attacks.Data centers that host Sybase 365 servers and network infrastructure secure their facilities through :*A 24/7/365 security officer *Video surveillance *Electronic locks *Access control lists *Entry/departure logs *Self-closing/locking doors *Backup battery power and generator *A disaster recovery plan Category:Browse